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BLOG: Oilers shake up power play units

by
Marc Ciampa
/ Edmonton Oilers

The Oilers changed up their power play units during practice today at Rexall Place. The first unit had Taylor Hall with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Teddy Purcell with Lauri Korpikoski and Justin Schultz manning the point.

The second unit had Benoit Pouliot, Mark Letestu and Nail Yakupov with Andrej Sekera and Connor McDavid on the point.

The biggest change was Mark Letestu being added, but the veteran centre said that being on the power play is not something foreign to him.

"This is one of my roles," he said. "In Pittsbugh, I played on the power play and in Columbus played on the power play on the point. That's what I did before I was an Oiler. There's no nerves going into this, this is what my job is. I play in a lot of situations and a lot of different roles and I've largely been successful as a power play player. I'm happy for the opportunity and hopefully get the guys going."

Letetsu added that his faceoff prowess will be a big help to the club, particularly in terms of keeping possession of the puck and keeping it in the offensive zone.

"I think that's one of the obvious things for me to get out there. We're going to get out there and win the draw early. Hopefully it'll allow us to get at least the first 20 seconds in the zone rather than chasing back. The face-off will definitely be a big key to me being out there."

He added that even though he's taking the draws, he'll be dropping back to the point once the unit gets set up.

"I'm probably actually going to be viewed as the other defenceman in that unit. For right now, I'll be one of the guys on the flank, probably shooting and delivering pucks and making the plays for the guys."